Snow Day
by Julianna Edwards
Summary: Lily Evans is a shy, quiet young Ravenclaw at Hogwarts. However, inside she is just waiting to make some mischief.
1. Prologue

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Author's Note: Okay everyone, this is, well not my first fic ever written, my first fic posted. I wrote this in revenge when every town in the area got a day off because it snowed except me! It is a Lily/James romance story, or will be soon. r/r please!!!!!

Prologue

"It snowed last night," she thought to herself, "but there's no snow day." She sighed. It was the only thing she hated about being at a boarding school. She loved living with her friends, the big meals served in the Great Hall, and sneaking out of the Ravenclaw Common Room at midnight.

"But no snow days," she sighed again, "Of course," she thought, "with the school being just one building, a snow day would be a little illogical. It would be nice though," and with that thought she went to gather her books for class.

Classes that day got absolutely no where. Everyone was too excited about the snow. Finally the Headmaster let them have the last two classes off.

"Not a snow day," she thought, "but close." Earlier that day she had tried to explain to her friends what snow days were, but, as they'd all grown up without them, it had been impossible.

"Lily," they asked her, "Why would you get a day off just because it snowed?" Lily sighed now just thinking about it.

"They sound just like my parents," she thought. Her parents, regular old veterans of the time before there were school buses, always rambled on about having to walk to school in three feet of snow, both ways.

"At least I don't have to listen to them," she said aloud to no one in particular and opened her book. Books were becoming her constant companions. One went with her to every class and stayed with her in the library in case she finished her homework early. Her friends laughed at her but that only made her sink deeper into the adventurous world of her books. Although she lived in a world that had magic, dragons, and even trolls, there didn't seem to be any adventure in it. Worse, Lily's friends didn't seem to mind leading a boring, non-adventurous type of life.

"Even sneaking out at night has gotten boring," she thought. They went only as far as the next hallway, not even whispering for fear they'd get caught. Then they went back to their common room and congratulated each other with silent grins. After these congratulations they all hurried up to their dormitories for fear they'd get caught out of bed. Although she had brought the idea of pulling a prank, her friends had looked at her like she was crazy.

"Lily," they told her, "only students in fifth year and up pull pranks. We're only third years." Once when she had brought it up they had burst out laughing and left her feeling rather embarrased, as everyone in the common room stared at her. Since then she'd never brought it up again and pointedly avoided telling them that four Gryffindors, namely James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, were in their third year and still pulled pranks. Lily was beginning to think that they actually liked getting detentions. With this thought she turned to look at the four friends. They were all sitting around a table and were hunched over what seemed to be a book. They were whispering excitedly and Peter was looking around nervously. So, naturally, Lily assumed they were planning a prank. She mad a split second decision, got up, and walked over to them.

A/N: What happens when Lily meets the four friends? Will she join the pranks or only get laughed at? The next part will be up shortly. I hope. I really hope. Please r/r.


	2. Here's Where It All Pays Off

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A/N: The next part of my story. This took longer than I expected to write and I also wanted to wait until the first part got more than one review! But here's the next part anyway. Maybe it will get more reviews than my first one!

"What if they laugh at me?" Lily thought, "or worse, what if they ignore me?" She kept walking towards them however, knowing that she'd never get the nerve up to talk to them again. About two feet away from the table they were sitting at she cleared her throat and the four friends looked up obviously startled.

"Hi," Lily said nervously, "I'm Lily Evans. I'm in Ravenclaw," she added.

"Yeah," James said cautiously. Sirius was more to the point.

"What do you want," he demanded. Lily noticed that both James and Remus kicked him for this question and became a little bolder. To the surprise of everyone there, including herself, she pulled out a chair, turned it around so the back was towards the table, and straddled it.

"Planning a prank?" she asked. The three Gryffindors, Peter having fled when she'd sat down, raised their eyebrows and exchanged glances with each other.

"Why do you ask?" Remus asked speaking up for the first time. Lily looked at them and decided to be blunt.

"I told my friends that they lacked excitement," she said. James chuckled, Remus tried to suppress a grin, and Sirius looked at her with what looked like growing respect. 

Encouraged by these reactions Lily continued, "So I decided to find some excitement, and you seemed to be my best choice."

"Too true," Sirius said, obviously having decided to trust her, "Wait until you hear what we're planning from Snape." With that Lily was accepted into the group. The prank was well planned and Lily, because she was so good at charms, had volunteered to be the one who turned Snape's robes and hair bright pink. James, Remus, and Sirius, or the Marauders as they called themselves, had warned her that it would be dangerous. Lily had countered that by saying that since she'd never pulled a prank before, then no one would suspect her. The Marauders had agreed and it was unanimously decided that Lily would be the one to do the charms work.

The next day Lily, in James' invisibility cloak, crouched outside the Slytherin Common Room waiting for Severus Snape to come out for lunch. 

"I can't believe I'm doing this," she thought, "What if I get a detention? Or worse, what if I get expelled?" Suddenly, the portrait opened and Lily looked up sharply. There was Snape. Quickly Lily pulled out her wand and whispered the charm. Snape's hair quickly turned pink and then followed. Barely stifling a laugh Lily raced of through the corridors towards the Great Hall.

A/N: There! The second part is finally up. This is getting easier. I might just put the third part up today too. Anyway, please review, even if it's a bad review. Come on people, it's not that hard to review, trust me. I've done it before and it only takes about two minutes of your time. So review! Quickly!


	3. Of Pranks . . .

A/N: Yay! The next part is finally up! All rejoice. Just kidding.

Chapter three

Of Pranks . . .

Upon entering the Great Hall, three faces were looked at her eagerly. She nodded and grinned in response to the unspoken question and received three grins in return. Barely suppressing a laugh, Lily sat down at the Ravenclaw table and looked towards the door. James, Sirius, and Remus had set off dung bombs in Snape's trunk making his clothes smell and making him late. Since he was the last one in the Great Hall, everyone looked up when he came in. There was a second of pause and then everyone started to laugh. Lily was laughing so hard she had tears streaming down her face and one glance at the Gryffindor table showed her that the Marauders were in the same condition.

"It feels so good to be part of a prank," Lily thought. At that moment she became aware that McGonagall was shouting at the boys for the prank. She also noticed that they were taking all the punishment. Feeling guilty, Lily stood up. Ignoring her friends' calls for her to sit down, she walked over to the Gryffindor table. As the three boys looked at her in surprise, Lily said very loudly, "I did it." McGonagall stopped shouting and looked at her.

"Well then Miss Evans, if you are sure you want to join these boys in their punishment then you may join them in detention for tonight." Lily nodded in reply and walked back to her seat. Ignoring her friends she pulled out a book and started to read.

A/N: Okay, that was short. Also, anyone who has read my third chapter to "Cassandra's Story" may skip this part. Everyone else, listen up. Okay, I've been reading my stories that are already posted and I noticed there's a lot of mistakes. I'm very bad at catching these mistakes and am asking if someone can help me out and proofread my stories. Please e-mail me if you're willing. Also, there will be no more updates until Saturday because I'm going on vacation. 


	4. And Punishment

Chapter 4

. . . And Punishment

As Lily walked into the Great Hall for supper she spent a little bit of time reflecting on the day she'd had. After she and the Marauders had received detentions she had ignored her friends and went straight to the Ravenclaw Common Room to get her books. Then she ran all the way to potions and got there extra early. However, despite her efforts, her friends had gotten there before her. 

"Lily," they told her in no nonsense tones, "we want you to stop hanging out with those Gryffindor trouble makers. We can't have you hanging out with both us _and_ them, it would ruin our reputation." Lily had simply stared at them and then went to sit down. The rest of the day passed uneventfully and Lily ignored both her so-called Ravenclaw friends and the Marauders. Now, however, she couldn't ignore them anymore. Taking a deep breath, she bravely opened the door and entered the Great Hall.

Ignoring everyone's looks, she walked quickly to the Ravenclaw table. She did, however, notice that Sirius waved at her. Not wanting to risk waving back, she smiled at him and winked. Sitting down at the table, she became aware of her friends watching her closely. They had obviously seen Sirius' wave and she hoped that they hadn't seen her wink in return. 

"The rest of my Hogwarts career would be miserable if they kick me out of their group," she thought, "if only I was brave enough to-" she shook her head, quickly erasing that thought. She wasn't brave enough. Had she had bravery, she would have been in Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw. 

"What was it the Sorting Hat had said?" she wondered, "Oh, right. 'Although you lack bravery my dear, you may be surprised at what one can acquire throughout life.' " At the time she'd had no idea what the Sorting Hat had meant. Lily, having gone through life being beaten by her sister and, on occasion, her father, had never been brave. Instead, she clung to others in hopes of protection. Perhaps the Sorting Hat had meant that she must be brave and stay friends with the Marauders? Or had it meant that she would gain bravery at a later time in life? 

"I wish I knew what to do," she thought furiously. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the owls came in to deliver mail. Lily rarely got anything but today a small barn owl flew over and dropped a letter on her plate. Picking it up she wondered who it was from. She had, rather brilliantly she thought, decided not to mention her first ever detention, which meant that the letter couldn't be from her parents. Curiously she opened it up and found that it was merely a notice that her detention would be held in the library right after dinner.

Deciding that she couldn't stand another minute of the stares, Lily got up and quickly walked out of the Great Hall. Once there she headed into a nearby corridor and sank down to her knees. Once there, she pulled out a book and a quill. Opening the book she started to write.

"Dear Diary,

You wouldn't believe what happened to me today. I got my first ever detention and-"

"Do you always write in your diary in deserted corridors?" an amused voice interrupted. Looking up sharply she saw that the Marauders had followed her. Relaxing slightly she asked, "How did you know I was writing in my diary?" James smiled at her and pointed to the cover of the book. Blushing slightly, Lily remembered that the words "Lily's Diary" were printed on the cover.

"Come on," Remus said gently helping her up, "It's time for our detention." Nodding, she smiled gratefully at Remus and mutely followed the Marauders to the library.

Upon entering the library, Madame Pince, the librarian, frowned at them and pointed to a table at the back of the room. The table had several piles of books and a note telling them to shelf the books. They got started and Lily was surprised at how quiet the Marauders were. Then she realized that Peter, while handing them books, was watching the librarian very closely. She also saw that Remus, Sirius, and James were all winking at each other. 

"Looks like detention isn't going to be all that boring after all," she thought with a grin.

Madame Pince soon decided that they weren't out to get her precious books and burn down, or possibly even blow up, her library. Muttering something being forced to baby-sit, she gave them strict instructions to finish up and be gone by curfew before leaving to, as Sirius whispered, "get absorbed in her romance novel."  As soon as she was gone the boys pulled out their wands, thoroughly confusing Lily.

"I thought detentions were supposed to be done without magic!" she exclaimed, and then looked guiltily at the door like she expected Madame Pince to come raging in at any minute. 

"Relax," Sirius grinned, "She'll be out for at least two hours absorbed in how Lorenzo is wooing Sylvia."

"Besides," James added, "it wouldn't be a Marauder's detention if we didn't leave a token of our, err, appreciation behind."

"Wait a minute, rewind!  You're going to a prank in the detention you got for playing a prank?!" Lily asked, now more confused then ever.

"Yup, that's our plan," James said, "We always do it."

"And you have to remember that it's a Marauder's ambition to pull the best pranks ever and get more detentions then anyone in the history of Hogwarts," Sirius said putting an arm around James and Lily, "Right Remus?"  Remus just nodded absently absorbed in levitating all the books to their proper places on the shelves.

"Well," she thought, "at least the detention work is getting done."  Resigned, she shrugged off Sirius' arm, put her hands on her hips, and asked "Alright then, what did you have in mind?"  Sirius and James grinned at each other while Remus finished levitating the last book and Peter, who Lily hadn't even seen leave, came back with a bag full of something.

"We had a little redecorating in mind . . ."

************************************* 1 HOUR LATER ******************************************************

Lily had to admit that the library looked incredibly different.  They had charmed the rug to be bright orange and black checkerboard pattern while the bookcases alternated between neon green and electric blue.  The chairs had a "Multi-Colour Spell" on them, which basically meant that they changed colour every five minutes.  They would be bright pink one moment and, after five minutes had gone by, be sporting purple polka dots on top of the pink.  On top of these colour changes, the boys added dung bombs from the bag Peter had brought.

"Aren't dung bombs a little, well, overused?" Lily asked hesitatingly.

"Probably, but they are our typical calling card," James answered.

"What's really cool about these particular dung bombs," Sirius added," is that they have a timer spell on them.  We can set the timer to any time we want."

"In this case," James interrupted, "it will be just after breakfast."

"Since everyone's coming out of the Great Hall they have to pass by the library1 and smell the dung bombs," Remus added.  Sirius swung an arm around Remus and James, who swung an around Peter, as they all grinned at her.

Lily shook her head, "I don't know whether you are insane or just very smart."

"Ah," Sirius said knowingly, "there's a fine line between genius and insanity Tiger Lily," he joked as Lily tried to stop the amused smile that was threatening to break through.  Try as she might, she couldn't get angry with them: Exasperated, yes; angry, no.  Although she couldn't help the feeling of excitement she felt at being included in yet another prank played by the infamous Marauders.

"I just hope it doesn't all blow up in my face tomorrow," she thought as she said goodnight to the boys and headed towards the Ravenclaw Common Room.  Luckily, none Lily's friends had waited for her, although she had mixed feelings about that.  While she was relieved that she wouldn't have to explain her detention that very night, part of her insisted that, as her friends, they should have waited up for her.  However, as she was sure she would get grilled the next morning, she decided to just be relieved and gratefully fell on her bed falling asleep almost instantly.

A/N: 1,422 words not including author note.  My longest chapter ever in the history of my writing I think.  I'm kind of proud of this chapter since it's my first one in a long time for this story and I wasn't sure I still knew how to write Lily.  I think she came off ok though, as did Sirius (who I was a little nervous about).  I hope everyone enjoyed it and hopefully I can keep up the writing.  Thanks for reading and please remember to review.  It would make my summer stuck at home so much better.


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